Guidewire artifact removal in images

ABSTRACT

This invention relates generally to methods and systems for removing an artifact within an image. Typically, the artifact is a guidewire artifact. In one aspect, at least two images of an imaging surface are acquired. Each acquired image comprises a set of data. A guidewire artifact is detected in one of the at least two images. The guidewire artifact is replaced with data representing the imaging surface obtained from another one of the at least two images. In certain embodiments, the at least two images are of the same imaging surface having a guidewire or object causing the artifact moved to a different position.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional No. 61/710,437, filed Oct. 5, 2012, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates generally to the removal of guidewire artifacts in rotational medical imaging techniques.

BACKGROUND

Tomographic imaging systems allow for high-resolution cross-sectional imaging in biological systems, and include, for example, optical coherence tomography systems, ultrasound imaging systems, and computed tomography systems. Tomographic imaging catheters allow for imaging of the subsurface of a lumen or vessel within the body, such as a blood vessel, through a minimally invasive procedure.

Typical tomographic imaging catheters consist of an imaging core, such as optical or ultrasound probes, disposed within a catheter that rotates and moves longitudinally through a lumen, while recording an image video loop of the lumen. The motion results in a 3D dataset, where each frame provides a 360 degree slice of the vessel at different longitudinal sections.

Prior to insertion of the imaging catheter to the target imaging area, a guidewire is directed into the lumen and retained at the target imaging area. The guidewire is typically a thin, flexible wire that is inserted into a lumen to act as a guide for subsequent insertion of the imaging catheter to the target imaging area. Once at the target imaging area, the imaging catheter rotates while moving longitudinally alongside the guidewire to acquire imaging data.

Because the imaging core rotationally sweeps past the guidewire during each rotation, the resulting images typically include a guidewire shadow or artifact that obscures imaging of tissue located behind the guidewire. The guidewire artifact is caused by the inability of the sensing energy, such as light or sound, to adequately penetrate the guidewire. The guidewire artifact is considered to be an unavoidable discontinuity in the imaging data that reduces image quality and can lead to misinterpretation of the resulting medical images.

SUMMARY

This invention generally improves image quality of tomographic imaging systems that use a rotating imaging probe in parallel with an object, such as a guidewire, that creates a discontinuity in an imaging data set. Through use of the image processing techniques, discontinuities, such as guidewire artifacts, are removed from an imaging data set, and thus removed from any resulting images. The resulting images with the artifacts removed include B-scans or scan-converted images. This advantageously reduces any error associated with misinterpretation of the guidewire artifact in the resulting images and overall improves image quality.

Guidewire artifacts and other artifacts can be removed from images acquired from any tomographic imaging system that utilizes a rotating probe, including, for example, optical coherence tomography, ultrasound technology, intravascular spectroscopy, or photo-acoustic tomography. The medical images acquired with rotating probes are typically intraluminal images taken within a biological lumen, such as a blood vessel and an intestine.

In certain aspects, a guidewire artifact is removed by acquiring at least two images an imaging surface in which image is formed from a set of imaging data. The imaging surface can include tissue, stents, plaque, ect. The guidewire artifact present in one of the at least two images is detected, and then replaced with data representing the imaging surface obtained from at least one other image.

In some embodiments, the at least two images of the imaging surface are acquired by repeated imaging of the same imaging surface. For catheter imaging, the images are acquired by pulling back or pushing forward the imaging catheter across the same region of the imaging surface within a lumen. During image acquisition, the guidewire is rotated or moved to a different position within the lumen so that the at least two images are of the same imaging surface with the guidewire in a different location.

The guidewire artifact is then detected in at least one of the images. The guidewire artifact can be automatically or manually detected in an image. After the guidewire artifact is detected within one of the at least two images, the guidewire artifact is replaced with data representing the imaging surface at the same location obtained from another one of the at least two images.

In certain embodiments, prior to detection of the guidewire artifact, the acquired images are registered to obtain the Cartesian coordinates for the imaging data set of each image. Registration allows for data from each image to be compared and integrated. The images can be manually or automatically registered using, for example, a phase correlation technique. By detecting the guidewire artifact, the position and the size of the guidewire within the Cartesian coordinate system is determined. Because the guidewire is moved during imaging, the guidewire artifact present in one of the images shares the same Cartesian coordinates as the imaging surface obtained from another image of the at least two images. Data representing the detected guidewire artifact is then replaced with data representing the imaging surface sharing the same Cartesian coordinates with the guidewire from another one of the at least two images. In one aspect, the resulting image with the guidewire artifact removed is interpolated to improve image quality.

Other and further aspects and features of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, which are intended to illustrate, not limit, the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vessel.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the vessel shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of components of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the imaging engine shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a light path in an OCT system of certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a patient interface module of an OCT system.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the motion of parts of an imaging catheter according to certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows an array of A scan lines of a three-dimensional imaging system according to certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows the positioning of A scans with in a vessel.

FIG. 10 illustrates a set of A scans used to compose a B scan according to certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 11 shows the set of A scans shown in FIG. 10 within a cross section of a vessel.

FIG. 12 shows a sample OCT B-Scan image calculated from 660 A-scans.

FIG. 13 shows a scan-converted OCT image from the B-scan of FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 shows an OCT B-scan image with a guidewire artifact and shadow highlighted.

FIG. 15 shows a scan-converted OCT image with a guidewire artifact and shadow highlighted.

FIG. 16 depicts a block diagram for guidewire artifact removal according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 17 is a system diagram according to certain embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

This invention generally relates to the removal of guidewire artifacts in medical images obtained from tomographic imaging systems that use a rotational imaging probe in parallel with a guidewire. As the imaging probe rotates to obtain an image, the guidewire often appears as an artifact within the image data set and resulting images. Through use of image processing techniques, artifacts are removed from the imaging data set in order to improve image quality and interpretability.

In certain aspects, in order to remove a guidewire artifact or other shadowing from an image, at least two images are taken of an imaging surface having the guidewire or other shadow causing obstruction moved or rotated to a different location. The resulting images are of the same imaging surface region having the resulting guidewire artifact or shadow in a different location. The guidewire artifact or shadow within one of the images is then replaced with data representing the imaging surface at the same location from one of the other images. This substitution removes the guidewire artifact from the image and provides a true substitution of the data representing the imaging surface lost to the shadow.

Accordingly, although aspects of the invention are generally applicable to rotational imaging systems, this invention is also contemplated for use in any medical imaging system that has a constant artifact or shadow within the imaging region that can be relocated, so that in image post-processing the artifact within one image can be replaced with data representing the imaging surface from another image. Such medical imaging systems include, for example, optical coherence tomography systems, intravascular ultrasound (“IVUS”) systems, spectroscopy, photo-acoustic tomography systems, combined ultrasound and OCT systems, RAMAN, alternative interferometric techniques, computed tomography, and any other tomographic imaging technique. Although the exemplifications described herein are drawn to the invention as applied to an OCT system, at least all of these techniques are contemplated for use with the systems and methods of the present invention.

Systems and methods of the invention have application in intravascular imaging methodologies such as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) among others that produce a three-dimensional image of a lumen. A segment of a lumen 101 is shown in FIG. 1 having a feature 113 of interest. FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of lumen 101 through feature 113. In certain embodiments, intravascular imaging involves positioning an imaging device near feature 113 and collecting data representing a three-dimensional image.

OCT is a medical imaging methodology using a specially designed catheter with a miniaturized near infrared light-emitting probe attached to the distal end of the catheter. As an optical signal acquisition and processing method, it captures micrometer-resolution, three-dimensional images from within optical scattering media (e.g., biological tissue). Commercially available OCT systems are employed in diverse applications, including art conservation and diagnostic medicine, notably in ophthalmology where it can be used to obtain detailed images from within the retina. The detailed images of the retina allow one to identify several eye diseases and eye trauma. Recently it has also begun to be used in interventional cardiology to help diagnose coronary artery disease. OCT allows the application of interferometric technology to see from inside, for example, blood vessels, visualizing the endothelium (inner wall) of blood vessels in living individuals.

Other applications of OCT and other signal processing imaging systems for biomedical imaging include use in: dermatology in order to image subsurface structural and blood flow formation; dentistry in order to image the structure of teeth and gum line to identify and track de-mineralization and re-mineralization, tarter, caries, and periodontal disease; gastroenterology in order to image the gastrointestinal tract to detect polyps and inflammation, such as that caused by Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis; cancer diagnostics in order to discriminate between malignant and normal tissue.

Generally, an OCT system comprises three components which are 1) an imaging catheter 2) OCT imaging hardware, 3) host application software. When utilized, the components are capable of obtaining OCT data, processing OCT data, and transmitting captured data to a host system. OCT systems and methods are generally described in Castella et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,108,030, Milner et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0152771, Condit et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0220334, Castella et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0043191, Milner et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0291463, and Kemp, N., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0180683, the content of each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. In certain embodiments, systems and methods of the invention include processing hardware configured to interact with more than one different three dimensional imaging system so that the tissue imaging devices and methods described here in can be alternatively used with OCT, IVUS, or other hardware.

Various lumen of biological structures may be imaged with aforementioned imaging technologies in addition to blood vessels, including, but not limited, to vasculature of the lymphatic and nervous systems, various structures of the gastrointestinal tract including lumen of the small intestine, large intestine, stomach, esophagus, colon, pancreatic duct, bile duct, hepatic duct, lumen of the reproductive tract including the vas deferens, vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes, structures of the urinary tract including urinary collecting ducts, renal tubules, ureter, and bladder, and structures of the head and neck and pulmonary system including sinuses, parotid, trachea, bronchi, and lungs.

The arteries of the heart are particularly useful to examine with imaging devices such as OCT. OCT imaging of the coronary arteries can determine the amount of plaque built up at any particular point in the coronary artery. The accumulation of plaque within the artery wall over decades is the setup for vulnerable plaque which, in turn, leads to heart attack and stenosis (narrowing) of the artery. OCT is useful in determining both plaque volume within the wall of the artery and/or the degree of stenosis of the artery lumen. It can be especially useful in situations in which angiographic imaging is considered unreliable, such as for the lumen of ostial lesions or where angiographic images do not visualize lumen segments adequately. Example regions include those with multiple overlapping arterial segments. It is also used to assess the effects of treatments of stenosis such as with hydraulic angioplasty expansion of the artery, with or without stents, and the results of medical therapy over time. In an exemplary embodiment, the invention provides a system for capturing a three dimensional image by OCT.

In OCT, a light source delivers a beam of light to an imaging device to image target tissue. Light sources can include pulsating light sources or lasers, continuous wave light sources or lasers, tunable lasers, broadband light source, or multiple tunable laser. Within the light source is an optical amplifier and a tunable filter that allows a user to select a wavelength of light to be amplified. Wavelengths commonly used in medical applications include near-infrared light, for example between about 800 nm and about 1700 nm.

Apsects of the invention apply to imaging data obtained from obtained from any OCT system, including OCT systems that operate in either the time domain or frequency (high definition) domain. Basic differences between time-domain OCT and frequency-domain OCT is that in time-domain OCT, the scanning mechanism is a movable mirror, which is scanned as a function of time during the image acquisition. However, in the frequency-domain OCT, there are no moving parts and the image is scanned as a function of frequency or wavelength.

In time-domain OCT systems an interference spectrum is obtained by moving the scanning mechanism, such as a reference mirror, longitudinally to change the reference path and match multiple optical paths due to reflections within the sample. The signal giving the reflectivity is sampled over time, and light traveling at a specific distance creates interference in the detector. Moving the scanning mechanism laterally (or rotationally) across the sample produces two-dimensional and three-dimensional images.

In frequency domain OCT, a light source capable of emitting a range of optical frequencies excites an interferometer, the interferometer combines the light returned from a sample with a reference beam of light from the same source, and the intensity of the combined light is recorded as a function of optical frequency to form an interference spectrum. A Fourier transform of the interference spectrum provides the reflectance distribution along the depth within the sample.

Several methods of frequency domain OCT are described in the literature. In spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT), also sometimes called “Spectral Radar” (Optics letters, Vol. 21, No. 14 (1996) 1087-1089), a grating or prism or other means is used to disperse the output of the interferometer into its optical frequency components. The intensities of these separated components are measured using an array of optical detectors, each detector receiving an optical frequency or a fractional range of optical frequencies. The set of measurements from these optical detectors forms an interference spectrum (Smith, L. M. and C. C. Dobson, Applied Optics 28: 3339-3342), wherein the distance to a scatterer is determined by the wavelength dependent fringe spacing within the power spectrum. SD-OCT has enabled the determination of distance and scattering intensity of multiple scatters lying along the illumination axis by analyzing a single the exposure of an array of optical detectors so that no scanning in depth is necessary. Typically the light source emits a broad range of optical frequencies simultaneously.

Alternatively, in swept-source OCT, the interference spectrum is recorded by using a source with adjustable optical frequency, with the optical frequency of the source swept through a range of optical frequencies, and recording the interfered light intensity as a function of time during the sweep. An example of swept-source OCT is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,501.

Generally, time domain systems and frequency domain systems can further vary in type based upon the optical layout of the systems: common beam path systems and differential beam path systems. A common beam path system sends all produced light through a single optical fiber to generate a reference signal and a sample signal whereas a differential beam path system splits the produced light such that a portion of the light is directed to the sample and the other portion is directed to a reference surface. Common beam path systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,999,938; U.S. Pat. No. 7,995,210; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,787,127 and differential beam path systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,783,337; U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,003; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,164, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In certain embodiments, the invention provides a differential beam path OCT system with intravascular imaging capability as illustrated in FIG. 3. For intravascular imaging, a light beam is delivered to the vessel lumen via a fiber-optic based imaging catheter 826. The imaging catheter is connected through hardware to software on a host workstation. The hardware includes an imagining engine 859 and a handheld patient interface module (PIM) 839 that includes user controls. The proximal end of the imaging catheter is connected to PIM 839, which is connected to an imaging engine as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the imaging engine 859 (e.g., a bedside unit) houses a power supply 849, light source 827, interferometer 831, and variable delay line 835 as well as a data acquisition (DAQ) board 855 and optical controller board (OCB) 851. A PIM cable 841 connects the imagine engine 859 to the PIM 839 and an engine cable 845 connects the imaging engine 859 to the host workstation.

FIG. 5 shows light path in a differential beam path system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Light for image capture originates within the light source 827. This light is split between an OCT interferometer 905 and an auxiliary, or “clock”, interferometer 911. Light directed to the OCT interferometer is further split by splitter 917 and recombined by splitter 919 with an asymmetric split ratio. The majority of the light is guided into the sample path 913 and the remainder into a reference path 915. The sample path includes optical fibers running through the PIM 839 and the imaging catheter 826 and terminating at the distal end of the imaging catheter where the image is captured.

Typical intravascular OCT involves introducing the imaging catheter into a patient's target vessel using standard interventional techniques and tools such as a guide wire, guide catheter, and angiography system. The imaging catheter may be integrated with IVUS by an OCT-IVUS system for concurrent imaging, as described in, for example, Castella et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0043191 and Dick et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0018393, both incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.

Rotation of the imaging catheter is driven by spin motor 861 while translation is driven by pullback motor 865, shown in FIG. 6. This results in a motion for image capture described by FIG. 7. Blood in the vessel is temporarily flushed with a clear solution for imaging. When operation is triggered from the PIM or control console, the imaging core of the catheter rotates while collecting image data. Using light provided by the imaging engine, the inner core sends light into the tissue in an array of A-scan lines as illustrated in FIG. 8 and detects reflected light.

FIG. 9 shows the positioning of A-scans within a vessel. Each place where one of A-scans A11, A12, . . . , AN intersects a surface of a feature within vessel 101 (e.g., a vessel wall) coherent light is reflected and detected. Catheter 826 translates along axis 117 being pushed or pulled by pullback motor 865.

The reflected, detected light is transmitted along sample path 913 to be recombined with the light from reference path 915 at splitter 919 (FIG. 5). A variable delay line (VDL) 925 on the reference path uses an adjustable fiber coil to match the length of reference path 915 to the length of sample path 913. The reference path length is adjusted by a stepper motor translating a mirror on a translation stage under the control of firmware or software. The free-space optical beam on the inside of the VDL 925 experiences more delay as the mirror moves away from the fixed input/output fiber.

The combined light from splitter 919 is split into orthogonal polarization states, resulting in RF-band polarization-diverse temporal interference fringe signals. The interference fringe signals are converted to photocurrents using PIN photodiodes 929 a, 929 b, . . . on the OCB 851 as shown in FIG. 5. The interfering, polarization splitting, and detection steps are done by a polarization diversity module (PDM) on the OCB. Signal from the OCB is sent to the DAQ 855, shown in FIG. 4. The DAQ includes a digital signal processing (DSP) microprocessor and a field programmable gate array (FPGA) to digitize signals and communicate with the host workstation and the PIM. The FPGA converts raw optical interference signals into meaningful OCT images. The DAQ also compresses data as necessary to reduce image transfer bandwidth to 1 Gbps (e.g., compressing frames with a glossy compression JPEG encoder).

Data is collected from A-scans A11, A12, . . . , AN and stored in a tangible, non-transitory memory. Typically, rotational systems consist of an imaging core which rotates and pulls back (or pushes forward) while recording an image video loop. This motion results in a three dimensional dataset of two dimensional image frames, where each frame provides a 360° slice of the vessel at different longitudinal locations.

A set of A-scans captured in a helical pattern 119 during one rotation of catheter 826 around axis 117 collectively define a B scan. FIG. 10 illustrates a set of A-scans A11, A12, . . . , A18 used to form a B scan according to certain embodiments of the invention. These A-scan lines are shown as would be seen looking down axis 117 (i.e., longitudinal distance between then is not shown). While eight A-scan lines are illustrated in FIG. 10, typical OCT applications can include between 300 and 1,000 A-scan lines to create a B scan (e.g., about 660). Reflections detected along each A-scan line are associated with features within the imaged tissue. Reflected light from each A-scan is combined with corresponding light that was split and sent through reference path 915 and VDL 925 and interference between these two light paths as they are recombined indicates features in the tissue.

The data of all the A-scan lines together represent a three-dimensional image of the tissue. The data of the A-scan lines generally referred to as a B scan can be used to create an image of a cross section of the tissue, sometimes referred to as a tomographic view. For example, FIG. 11 shows the set of A-scans shown in FIG. 10 within a cross section of a vessel. The set of A-scans obtained by rotational imaging modality can be combined to form a B-scan. FIG. 12 is an example of an OCT polar coordinate B-Scan with 660 A-scans. To create a final tomographic view of the vessel, the B-scan is scan converted to a Cartesian coordinate system. FIG. 13 displays the scan converted image of the B-scan in FIG. 12.

During acquisition of imaging data of the luminal surface that forms the A-scans, data can be lost due to the obstruction of a guidewire, or multiple guidewires. FIG. 14 depicts a B-scan image having a guidewire artifact 200 identified. Because the guidewire artifact 200 casts a shadow 202 outwardly (in a radially increasing direction) on a portion of the luminal surface and any features that would otherwise be visible on or beneath the luminal surface are obscured. FIG. 15 depicts a scan-converted image of a B-scan highlighting a guidewire artifact 300 and shadow 302 caused by the guidewire artifact 300.

FIG. 16 exemplifies the steps employed in aspects of the invention for removing guidewire artifacts. In step 500, at least two images are obtained of an imaging surface, in which each image is formed form an imaging data set. In step 502, the images are registered and aligned. In step 504, the guidewire artifact is detected in at least one of the images. In step 506, the data representing the guidewire artifact is replaced with data representing the imaging surface obtained from at least one other image.

In one aspect, at least two images are obtained of the same imaging surface by repeating imaging data acquisition. For example, repeating imaging pull-backs or push-forwards of the imaging catheter to obtain the desired amount of images of the same imaging region. For each repeated data acquisition of the imaging region, the guidewire is moved or rotated to different position. It should be noted that the at least two images of the imaging surface are not limited to images acquired from one imaging system, rather images can be acquired from two or more different imaging systems. For example, one data set can be obtained from an OCT imaging catheter and another dataset can be obtained from an ultrasound imaging catheter. In such embodiments, the data representing the guidewire artifact in an OCT image is replaced with data representing the luminal surface at the same location in the ultrasound image.

In step 502, the at least two images are registered and aligned to obtain the Cartesian coordinates, XYZ coordinates, of all frames and pixels in the imaging data set for each image. Image registration is the process of determining the correspondence between all points in two images of the same scene. With respect to removing the guidewire artifact, aligning the data sets allows for one to compare the position of a guidewire artifact within one imaging data set with the imaging surface at the same position in another imaging data set. This step can occur before or after step 504 without affecting the outcome of the method. Exemplary techniques for registering images are described in, for example, Joseph Hajnal, Derek Hill, and David Hawkes, editors. Medical Image Registration. CRC Press, 2001, D. I. Barnea and H. F. Silverman, “A class of algorithms for fast digital image registration”, IEEE Trans. Computers, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 179-186, 1972. For imaging data sets obtained from more than one imaging system, an exemplary technique for registering such multimodal images is described in Acharya, et al. “Image registration of multimodality 3-D medical images by chamfer matching” Proc. SPIE 1660, 356 (1992).

In one aspect, the images are registered using a phase-correlation technique. Generally, a phase-correlation technique takes two input images to produce a third imaging data set, or image, which contains a single peak. The location of this peak corresponds to the relative translation between the images. The phase correlation method is resilient to noise, occlusions, and other defects typical of medical images. Additionally, the phase-correlation uses a fast Fourier transform to compute the cross-correlation between the two images, which generally results in large performance gains. Exemplary phase-correlation registration techniques are described in Givens et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,638, Dong et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,970, and Reddy et al., IEEE Transaction on Image Processing, Vol. 5, No. 8 Aug. 1996.

Step 504 involves detecting a guidewire artifact within at least one of the images. Preferably, the guidewire artifact is detected in at least two of the acquired images. This allows one to determine whether the guidewire artifact is in a different location across datasets, and prevents the inadvertent substitution of data representing guidewire artifact with data representing guidewire artifact. Detecting guidewire artifact provides the Cartesian coordinates of the guidewire artifact within the imaging data set of the image. Using the Cartesian coordinates of the guidewire artifact, data representing the imaging surface in one or more of the other images sharing the same Cartesian coordinates can be obtained and used to replace the guidewire artifact.

Any method for detecting a guidewire artifact within an image can be used. For example, a guidewire can be detected using principal component analysis, such as a technique described in co-pending application entitled “Automatic Stent Detection in Intravascular Images,” Begin et al. To detect a guidewire using principal component analysis, a set of pre-defined images that are known to display a guidewire are generated to train a processor to identify or recognize the guidewire in images where the guidewire location is unknown. After a training set of the pre-defined images is generated, the principal components for the set can be computed to create an object space for the guidewire. By projecting an input image with an unknown guidewire location onto the object space, the guidewire can be detected within the input image. In another aspect, a guidewire artifact can be detected within an input image by generating a training set of images of a guidewire, where each image is defined by one or more features. A covariance matrix can be computed for a feature within each pre-defined image of the training set. The covariance for a feature within the input image can be calculated and compared to the covariances of the training set. From the comparison, the guidewire can be detected within the input image.

A further exemplary method for detection of a guidewire artifact utilizes the opaque nature of the guidewire by employing an edge detector or ridge detector as known in the art to detect the guidewire shadow artifact projected by a guidewire. Because the guidewire are often made of light-blocking material such as metal, the shadow in the surrounding tissue has a sharp edge in which the transition length is approximately equal to the lateral resolution of the imaging system. A shadow can be viewed as the inverted ridge (valley) amid surrounding tissues because it is usually the local intensity minima and it is substantially vertically oriented. Ridge-detecting filters are applied to the original image to obtain the ridge intensity level map. The ridge intensity at each scan or horizontal location is averaged in the vertical direction to generate the ridge intensity profile image or map. The average intensities of this map are then graphed and the peaks in the graph are detected. The peaks correspond to the location of the centers of the guidewire artifacts. The guidewire artifact can also be detected directly by using its bright ridge-like features. Information useful in implementing the ridge detector method exemplified may be found, for example, in Xu, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0094127.

Another technique for detecting guidewire artifacts includes first detecting the lumen border and then detecting the artifact based on the intensity of pixels along the lumen border. This technique is described in detail in relation to stent strut shadows, in Unal et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,801,343. Detection of the lumen boundary may be accomplished, for example, by evolving a geometric shape, such as an ellipse, using a region-based algorithm technique, a geodesic boundary-based algorithm technique or a combination of the two techniques. The intensities of the pixels along lumen border are then used to detect the presence and location of the guidewire shadow in the image.

An additional suitable technique for detecting the guidewire artifact is described in Kimmel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,397,935. This method examines each A-scan within a rotation spanning 360 degrees to determine which of the a-scans includes the guidewire artifact and/or shadow artifact. For example, a guidewire artifact 202 can be detected across A-scans by comparing the brightness of the brightest portion of data in an A-scan and a standard deviation of the brightness in the rest of the A-scan. A-scans that include a guidewire have a maximum difference between the brightest portion of data at the bottom of the A-scan and the standard deviation of brightness. Information useful in implementing this exemplary method may be found, for example, in Kimmel et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,397,935.

After the position of the guidewire artifact is known, the data representing the guidewire artifact in one image is replaced with data representing the imaging surface in another imaging image. The data representing the imaging surface can be taken from one or more other images. In certain aspects, the resulting image with the guidewire artifact removed is then interpolated to enhance image quality using any method of interpolation known in the art. Suitable interpolation techniques include, for example, liner interpolation, cubic interpolation, and nearest neighbor interpolation, and are described in Bankman, Handbook of Medical Imaging: Processing and Analysis (2000).

In certain aspects, the acquired images may have more than one guidewire artifact present. For example, combined OCT and ultrasound imaging techniques may have a guidewire for the OCT imaging catheter and a guidewire for the ultrasound imaging catheter. In order to remove multiple guidewires present in an image, embodiments of the invention are repeated for each guidewire. For example, removal of multiple guidewires is accomplished by acquiring images of an imaging surface having two or guidewires moved to different locations, registering the two or more images, detecting the guidewires in one or more images, replacing the detected guidewires in one image with data representing the imaging surface at the same location in one or more other images.

In some embodiments, a device of the invention includes an OCT imaging system and obtains a three-dimensional data set through the operation of OCT imaging hardware. In some embodiments, a device of the invention is a computer device such as a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer, and obtains a three-dimensional data set by retrieving it from a tangible storage medium, such as a disk drive on a server using a network or as an email attachment.

Methods of the invention can be performed using software, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions can also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations (e.g., imaging apparatus in one room and host workstation in another, or in separate buildings, for example, with wireless or wired connections).

In some embodiments, a user interacts with a visual interface to view images from the imaging system. Input from a user (e.g., parameters or a selection) are received by a processor in an electronic device. The selection can be rendered into a visible display. An exemplary system including an electronic device is illustrated in FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 17, imaging engine 859 communicates with host workstation 433 as well as optionally server 413 over network 409. In some embodiments, an operator uses computer 449 or terminal 467 to control system 400 or to receive images. An image may be displayed using an I/O 454, 437, or 471, which may include a monitor. Any I/O may include a keyboard, mouse or touchscreen to communicate with any of processor 421, 459, 441, or 475, for example, to cause data to be stored in any tangible, nontransitory memory 463, 445, 479, or 429. Server 413 generally includes an interface module 425 to effectuate communication over network 409 or write data to data file 417.

Processors suitable for the execution of computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processor of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, solid state drive (SSD), and flash memory devices); magnetic disks, (e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks); magneto-optical disks; and optical disks (e.g., CD and DVD disks). The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, the subject matter described herein can be implemented on a computer having an I/O device, e.g., a CRT, LCD, LED, or projection device for displaying information to the user and an input or output device such as a keyboard and a pointing device, (e.g., a mouse or a trackball), by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well. For example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback), and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The subject matter described herein can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component (e.g., a data server 413), a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or a front-end component (e.g., a client computer 449 having a graphical user interface 454 or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described herein), or any combination of such back-end, middleware, and front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected through network 409 by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include cell network (e.g., 3G or 4G), a local area network (LAN), and a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet.

The subject matter described herein can be implemented as one or more computer program products, such as one or more computer programs tangibly embodied in an information carrier (e.g., in a non-transitory computer-readable medium) for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus (e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers). A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, app, macro, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages (e.g., C, C++, Perl), and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. Systems and methods of the invention can include instructions written in any suitable programming language known in the art, including, without limitation, C, C++, Perl, Java, ActiveX, HTML5, Visual Basic, or JavaScript.

A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file. A program can be stored in a portion of file 417 that holds other programs or data, in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

A file can be a digital file, for example, stored on a hard drive, SSD, CD, or other tangible, non-transitory medium. A file can be sent from one device to another over network 409 (e.g., as packets being sent from a server to a client, for example, through a Network Interface Card, modem, wireless card, or similar).

Writing a file according to the invention involves transforming a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium, for example, by adding, removing, or rearranging particles (e.g., with a net charge or dipole moment into patterns of magnetization by read/write heads), the patterns then representing new collocations of information about objective physical phenomena desired by, and useful to, the user. In some embodiments, writing involves a physical transformation of material in tangible, non-transitory computer readable media (e.g., with certain optical properties so that optical read/write devices can then read the new and useful collocation of information, e.g., burning a CD-ROM). In some embodiments, writing a file includes transforming a physical flash memory apparatus such as NAND flash memory device and storing information by transforming physical elements in an array of memory cells made from floating-gate transistors. Methods of writing a file are well-known in the art and, for example, can be invoked manually or automatically by a program or by a save command from software or a write command from a programming language. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-readable, non-transitory, medium storing software code representing instructions that when executed by a computing system cause the computing system to perform a method of removing a guidewire artifact, the method comprising: acquiring at least two intravascular images of an imaging surface using a rotating transducer or probe movable relative to a guidewire, each image comprising a set of data associated with the same imaging modality and associated with the imaging surface having the guidewire moved to a different position; registering and aligning the at least two intravascular images; detecting a guidewire artifact present in at least one of the at least two intravascular images, wherein the detecting comprises determining the coordinates of the artifact in the at least one of the at least two intravascular images; and replacing the guidewire artifact in the at least one of the at least two intravascular images with data representing the imaging surface obtained from at least one other image of the at least two intravascular images.
 2. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium of claim 1, wherein the images are automatically registered.
 3. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium of claim 1, wherein the images are registered using the phase correlation method.
 4. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium of claim 1, wherein the guidewire artifact present in the at least one of the at least two intravascular images shares the same three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates as the data representing the portion of the imaging surface obtained from at least one other image of the at least two intravascular images.
 5. The computer-readable, non-transitory medium of claim 1, wherein the images are acquired using optical coherence tomography, ultrasound technology, intravascular spectroscopy, or photo-acoustic tomography.
 6. A system for imaging and removing a guidewire artifact, comprising: a central processing unit (CPU); and a storage device coupled to the CPU and having stored there information for configuring the CPU to: acquire at least two intravascular images of an imaging surface using a rotating transducer or probe movable relative to a guidewire, each image comprising a set of data associated with the same imaging modality and associated with the imaging surface having the guidewire moved to a different position; register and align the at least two intravascular images; detect a guidewire artifact present in at least one of the at least two intravascular images, wherein the detecting comprises determining the coordinates of the artifact in the at least one of the at least two intravascular images; and replace the guidewire artifact in the at least one of the at least two intravascular images with data representing the imaging surface obtained from at least one other image of the at least two intravascular images.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the images are automatically registered.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the images are registered using the phase correlation method.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the data defines a Cartesian coordinate system and the guidewire artifact present in the image shares the same Cartesian coordinates as the data representing the imaging surface obtained from at least one other image of the at least two intravascular images.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the images are acquired using optical coherence tomography, ultrasound technology, intravascular spectroscopy, or photoacoustic tomography.
 11. The system of claim 6, wherein storage device has information stored there for further configuring the CPU to: determine size and position within the Cartesian coordinate system of an object causing the artifact.
 12. A method of removing an imaging artifact, the method comprising: acquiring a first intravascular image of an imaging surface using a rotating transducer or probe in a first position relative to a guidewire; acquiring a second intravascular image of the imaging surface using the rotating transducer or probe in a second position relative to the guidewire, the first and second intravascular images associated with the same imaging modality; registering and aligning the at least two intravascular images; detecting an artifact present in one of the first or second intravascular images, wherein the detecting comprises determining the coordinates of the artifact in the at least one of the first or second intravascular images; and replacing the artifact in the at least one of the first or second intravascular images with data representing the imaging surface obtained from the other image of the first or second intravascular images. 